What is your opinion about the efficacy of being an open networker (LION)? Is there a downside?

Good question. In “fairness” to the guy who says he came up with “LION,” let me distinguish between those who call themselves LIONs with no regard for him coming up with it, or for his rules he came up with.

A LION is someone who declares, publicly, that they are open networkers. This means different things to different people, but when I see someone say they are a LION it insinuates they will accept an invitation request I send them.

You don’t have to be a LION to have an open networking connection policy, however. You don’t have to be anything, or declare anything. It’s a personal choice.

In my LinkedIn book I talk about a spectrum… on one end is open networkers and on the other is closed networkers.

I can’t tell you what you should do, or say that one is better than another. It depends on what you want and your circumstances… and both of those things can change quickly!

Are you using LinkedIn more as a searchable database? Then you’ll get more value out of a larger network, regardless of who you connect with.

Do you want to be able to recommend, or introduce, all of your first degree contacts? Then you’ll be a more closed (or conservative) networker.